Pony Music Library 50: "My Little Pony Theme (Extended Version)"

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PML is 50 not out! I wasn't really expecting to get this far in the series when I started it back in April 2016, but here we are – and I suspect some of you guessed what I'd be featuring to mark the occasion.

What? "My Little Pony Theme (Extended Version)"

Who? Daniel Ingram, Lauren Faust, Anna Bryant, Clifford "Ford" Kinder and Barry Harman

Which? Extended version of FiM opening theme

When? February 2012

Why? Although the video for this says "Leaked", it was officially released that same month as an extra on The Friendship Express DVD. The show theme itself is something many of us skip these days (although not usually me) but it's also a hugely important part of Friendship is Magic. It's barely changed since S1, and though people sometimes complain about that I'm glad. This extended version adds some really nice extra lines about each of the Mane Six, and "We'll make it special every time" is one of my favourite lyrics in any My Little Pony song. The video is also very much in the style of early-fandom PMVs.

In February 2014, Hasbro uploaded a new version to its official account, but in usual Hasbro "music video" style its visuals vary substantially from the original. Besides, it doesn't have the nostalgia value that the original does – after all, that one was only a few weeks old when I came into the fandom. Love it, hate it or somewhere in between, the show theme is at the very core of FiM; after all, the tune's beginning (both here and in the short show version) seems to be hinting at a continuation of G3-style Pony but it then goes far more upbeat and marks a clear break with the former style. As such, it seems an entirely appropriate song to induct on this particular occasion.